1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to cooling systems for end mills. More particularly, the present invention concerns a coolant flow guide system that may be readily used with a variety of end mills for the purpose of directing coolant over the flutes of an end mill to provide efficient cooling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The standard cooling system for end mills, and other machine tool systems, involves coolant being directed at a machine tool by a nozzle connected through a hose or the like to a reservoir of coolant. The coolant is usually pumped from the reservoir to a single nozzle that is used to flood the area of the end mill or other machine tool.
The single nozzle is normally clamped in a stationary position pointing at the end mill to have emitted coolant strike the end mill. As a result the coolant in conventional systems is continually washing over a machine tool from a single direction and has the drawback of washing chips and other metal particles into the work area and towards the machine tool rather than away from the work area and the machine tool.
Clearly, the commonly used single stream of coolant does not provide efficient cooling, and further can produce extra wear and tear on the machine tool by reason of having metal particles washed into the work area and against the machine tool. Further, whatever lubricating effect the coolant would normally have is countered by having such machine particles continually directed towards the work area.